Bill Buchanan

[A. Joseph Ross]

Donna was talking this morning about Bill Buchanan.  I remember him as a columnist in the 
Boston Daily Record, before it was consolidated with the Evening American.  And I 
remember his occasional rants about Top 40 radio.  Despite that, I used to enjoy his column, 
precisely because he wrote about radio.  I was in high school at the time, had one of the few 
FM radios around, and was quite interested in radio, and Bill Buchanan's column was the 
only one that talked about radio at that time.

I had access to all of the Boston morning newspapers at that time because my mother used 
to bring them home from the hospital where she worked.  Patients would give them to her 
when they finished with them.

I once called Bill Buchanan to take issue with his constant putdowns of Top 40 radio.  I 
wanted him to know that some people like that music.  He said that what really bothered him 
was how it came about that those stations switched to that format, hinting that it was 
something sinister.  He said that he wouldn't tell me about it on the phone, but if I came in to 
see him, he would tell me in person.  I said I would, but I never did, and I'm sure he knew 
that I wouldn't.  This, of course, was typical Record-American style: suggest sinister doings 
without ever giving specifics.

One thing I always liked about his column was that he occasionally revealed the real names 
of Top 40 DJs.  He occasionally railed at the practice of DJs using pseudonyms on the air, 
again suggesting that there was something incredibly sinister about it.  

When the Record and American were consolidated into the Record-American, Bill 
Buchanan's column was discontinued.  I never discovered his later column in the Globe.

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@attorneyross.com
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